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Mourners honor Sikhs

By Dinesh RamdeThe Associated Press

Posted:
08/11/2012 12:01:00 AM MDT

Two women hug as community members attend a memorial service Friday at Oak Creek High School in Oak Creek, Wis., for the six victims of the mass shooting at the Sikh temple in suburban Milwaukee. (Darren Hauck, Getty Images)

OAK CREEK, wis. — Hundreds of people streamed into a Wisconsin high school Friday to pay their final respects to six worshipers gunned down by a white supremacist at a Sikh temple in suburban Milwaukee.

Somber, tearful mourners, most wearing scarves on their heads in the Sikh tradition, greeted victims' family members with hugs at the Oak Creek High School gymnasium. Flowers adorned the six open caskets, and a large video screen flashed photos of those killed and injured.

Mourners took their seats as Sikh singers sang hymns in Punjabi, an Indian dialect. One singer paused to translate some lyrics into English.

"Dear God, you have given me this body and this soul. This body is doing whatever you want me to do. You take this soul, this is your soul," he said.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder applauded the Sikh community, saying they responded without violence despite witnessing the worst of humankind.

"You've inspired the best of who we are," he said.

Federal investigators might never know why 40-year-old Wade Michael Page chose to attack strangers in a holy place. What they do know is that the Army veteran opened fire with a 9 mm pistol at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, shortly before Sunday services were due to begin.

Page killed five men and one woman, and injured two other men. Authorities say he ambushed the first police officer who responded, shooting him nine times and leaving him in critical condition. A second officer shot Page in the stomach, and Page took his own life with a shot to the head.

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Violence against Sikhs is becoming too frequent, Holder told the mourners Friday. "That is wrong, it is unacceptable, and it will not be tolerated," he said.

Several dozen police officers stood by in the gym, watching the service.

Gov. Scott Walker told mourners that the Sikh community has shown that the best way to respond to hatred is with love.

"Today we mourn with you, we pray with you, we support you," Walker said.

Pardeep Singh Kaleka, the son of the slain temple president Satwant Singh Kaleka, said his father was selfless, often telling him that "you make a living by what you make, but you make a life by what you give."

Kaleka, 65, was shot as he tried to fend off Page with a butter knife.

Mourners were expected to later return to the temple where priests would read the Sikh holy book from cover to cover in a traditional rite honoring the dead called "Akhand Path." That process takes 48 hours.

"We want to pay homage to the spirits who are still in there," said Harpreet Singh, a nephew of one of the victims.

The FBI roped off the temple for four days while agents conducted their investigation. They handed the keys back to Sikh leaders Thursday morning, allowing worshippers to replace blood-stained carpets and apply fresh paint to some walls. One bullet hole in a door jamb leading to the main prayer hall was left unrepaired as a memorial to the shooting victims.

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